The Missing Ribbon
by Matsuo Emi
Summary: Shinri-verse' One-shot. Ino and Kakashi are having difficulty simply accepting Sakura's death, and as evidence mounts, Tsunade is forced to make a difficult decision. No pairing.


**Shinri One Shot**

* * *

**The Missing Ribbon: Ino's, Kakashi's and Tsunade's Stories**

* * *

Today was the most difficult day in Ino's life. The vacant house became visible through the soft misty rain as she approached. Sakura and her mother had barely been buried by the time the village housing board had seized their property and scheduled an auction. Tsunade-sama had somehow managed to leverage for a D-ranked mission to be assigned to clean out the property before the auction, and had asked Ino to accept it.

Of course, Ino did, and without hesitation. But now, standing outside on the familiar stoop, staring up at the suddenly foreboding house, Ino was having regrets. She bumped her hip against the stack of folded moving boxes she had brought.

"They're just things," Ino told herself and slipped the key into the lock. But even things, no matter how people tried to deny it, carried emotions and memories. The lock clicked and the door swung open with a soft creak.

The old house had been closed off for only a few days, but air in the foyer already smelled musty. Ino dragged the boxes inside and propped them against the wall. She took one with her into the living room and set it up in the middle of the area rug. She wasn't supposed to take everything, just the things that held some potential significance to any family that might step forward to claim them. Ino was fairly certain that she, Tsunade, and maybe Shizune, were the only ones left who even cared.

That would make deciding what to take easier.

The living room didn't have much in it that caught Ino's eye. Some pictures, mostly of her and Sakura while they were little, sat on the mantle. Ino gently wrapped them in paper and laid them in the box. A book, Sakura's favorite romance novel, sat on the coffee table like it had been set down in a hurry. The book mark was half way through the novel. Sakura used to carry the book to the academy every day to read on breaks even though she had to have read the thing a hundred times already. Still, she had been half way through reading it again before she d-

Ino shook her head, snatched the book off of the table, and placed it in the box as well.

The living room didn't take long to clear, and Ino made her way to the kitchen. It was mostly clean, but Ino took the time to wash the few remaining dishes. An old oversized coffee mug with a picture of a kitten plastered on its side sat by the sink like it was waiting to be used again. It was chipped in places around the bottom and the edge, and the image was beginning to crack and fade from over use. Sakura loved that mug. She used it for everything. Ino wrapped it up, and placed it in the box.

Next, Ino dragged her still nearly empty box to Sakura's mother's room. At the bedside table, there were some baby pictures of Sakura and the dried flowers Ino had given her for one of her birthdays. They all went into the box.

Ino set her jaw and readied herself for the room she had been dreading. She dragged an empty box down the hall and into Sakura's room. It looked like she could have still been living there. The bed was made, but the sheets were crumpled, like she had been sleeping on top of them. Some blank papers and pens were scattered across the desk, while the usual desktop items were piled on the floor beside it instead. Clothes had been dragged out and stuffed haphazardly back into drawers, and the closet doors stood open.

Ino sat on the floor in the middle of the room and breathed.

She had in mind some very specific items that she wanted to cherish personally, so she searched for them first. On the bed side table, Ino found a picture frame laying face down.

"What?" Ino gasped and ran her fingers along the glass front. It was empty. It was supposed to hold a picture of team seven, the stupid picture that, for some reason, Sakura had cherished.

Ino held the empty frame in her lap, and looked around the rest of the room with her mouth knit in a frown. On the closet floor lay an empty hanger. Ino scanned the closet, and realized that the rain cloak was missing. She jumped to her feet and ran over to the dresser.

"She hung it on the mirror! I watched her do it!" Ino yelled at her reflection when she realized that the ribbon she had given to Sakura was also gone. She dug through the drawers, hoping she would find it there. Nothing.

Ino searched the entire house for the missing items, especially in Sakura's mother's room in case the distraught woman had taken them out of the room herself. But it made no sense. The picture and the ribbon were only significant to Sakura, and cloak had no significance, only…

"… utility," Ino realized. She touched her trembling fingers to her lips. Sakura's body didn't have any of those things on it when it was found. Would the bandits have taken them? No, they were of no value at all. Something wasn't sitting well with Ino.

She took a shaky breath, gave the empty box a last sideward glance, and ran out of the house towards the Hokage's tower.

* * *

Kakashi stood staring listlessly at the black granite monument. It glistened in the rain, and he was having trouble deciding whether or not it was beautiful or ugly today. He sighed, rolled his neck, and made his way towards the grave yard. He had one more visit than usual to make these days. Kakashi knew in his heart that the list of visits would only continue to grow until the day came that someone would be coming to visit him instead.

He secretly longed for it.

He stopped in front of the pair of humble little granite stones that seemed so out of place amongst the grander monuments that had been made for Tsunade's family. The First and the Second Hokage were buried nearby, and Kakashi drummed up a little bit of silent vindictiveness towards the Haruno clan. Ironic, how their attempt to shame Sakura and her mother only served to earn them a place of honor.

With the toe of his sandal, he nudged away a bit of dirt that had splashed onto the smooth stone. The simple head stones didn't do Sakura justice at all in his opinion. She had been much more vibrant and energetic than the bored sounding engraving let on. Though she was never quite as bad as Naruto, she had commanded a good bit of attention in her own way.

Attention he should have been giving her sooner.

If he had taken as much of an interest in her as he had in Sasuke and Naruto she might still be alive today. He should have trained her harder, pushed her to her limits, even if she hated him for it. At least then she wouldn't be dead.

But even then, it made no sense. Kakashi hadn't read the official report yet, but the Hokage had said that she had been killed by bandits. Bandits? How very… un-Sakura-like. He shook his head.

She had just returned from a mission where she had taken out an Akatsuki operative with the swiftness and professionalism of a seasoned veteran. Tsunade had recently graduated her from training. But bandits were still a threat to her? Something wasn't sitting well with Kakashi.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and decided that he still had _one_ more visit to make after all today.

* * *

Tsunade drained her second bottle of sake of the day; it was only noon. With a sigh, she pushed the papers on her desk around with her palms and the grace of an elephant. She had just sent Ino on the 'mission' to pack up Sakura's valuables, and the look on the young woman's face had almost made an already tipsy Tsunade spill her secret right then and there.

Still, Sakura could _really_ be dead, for all she knew. It's not like she had any way of contacting or communicating with her missing-nin ex-apprentice. All she could do was cross her fingers and hope for the best. The sensation in the pit of her stomach was more painful and disquieting than the weight of grieving. She envied those who thought Sakura was dead. It was so much simpler that way. They didn't have to bear the guilt of knowing that they had caused her mother's death. Tsunade should have told her the truth. Now, Sakura would be devastated if she ever found out.

Tsunade scanned the official report of Sakura's death. The council had spun a complete but unbelievable lie. All of their bases had been covered, unless anyone reading it had ever met Sakura personally for even the smallest of moments.

"Bandits," Tsunade snorted and uncorked another bottle of sake that she had stashed under her desk where Shizune wouldn't find it, "Like fuck my – _MY_ apprentice would be killed by _bandits_. Your precious little Root ANBU couldn't even stop her, fucking idiots."

Although, the fact that they were idiots had helped Sakura escape. Tsunade was the only one who had any idea that Sakura could possibly even be alive. Her corpse scroll had worked beautifully. The council had been completely fooled. Tsunade smirked with satisfaction. If she ever saw Sakura again, they would get drunk and have a good long laugh at the old farts' expense over this. Someday, they would all laugh about it.

Tsunade's face fell and she took a huge swig directly out of the bottle, "_If _I ever see her again… if…if..."

She kept repeating the word to herself at a whisper until the single syllable sounded strange to her buzzing ears.

There was a rap at her door, and Tsunade scrambled to hide the sake bottle in case it was Shizune coming to check on her.

"Come in," she called out in the most commanding voice she could manage while she tried to make sense enough of the papers on her desk to make it look like she may have been working on them.

To her relief, Kakashi, not Shizune, walked into her office.

"What can I do for you, Kakashi-san?" she asked. She hadn't summoned him… had she?

…Damn sake.

"Tsunade-sama, I'll make this brief," he smiled beneath his mask and stood upright formally, "I would just like a chance to read the official report… on Sakura's death."

"_Oh, hell no!_" Tsunade blanched and her vision spun. Kakashi was the _last_ person she wanted reading that thing. The second he laid eyes, Sharingan or not, on that report he would know what a complete and shitty lie it truly was.

"_Lie! Quick! Something good_," she coached herself.

"I seem to have misplaced it," she said as formally and Hokage-like as the sake would allow her. She sat upright at her desk, her hands folded authoritatively in front of her.

"Uhmm," Kakashi scratched his head, and pointed nonchalantly with the other, "Is that it?"

Tsunade glanced to her right without moving her head. The report glared back at her. Her eye twitched.

"… oh… yes," she ground out between clenched teeth and a fake smile, "There it is!"

Kakashi reached out his hand. Tsunade snatched the folder up in a vice like grip and glared at it accusingly, "Fine!"

Kakashi flinched at her outburst and backed off a little.

"Here!" she bellowed and threw the report at him. It sailed across the space like a rock and hit him in the chest with enough force that the papers exploded out of it like confetti, "Now get out!"

Kakashi scrambled to collect the papers and leave before Tsunade threw him out the window like that. Just as he had tucked the folder under one arm, Ino appeared at the door.

"Tsunade-sama, I have something strange to report," she looked harried and was panting like she had run there.

"What now?" Tsunade sighed and rubbed her pounding temples. She still had to deal with how she was going to handle Kakashi's inevitable reaction to the fabricated report.

Ino swallowed and glanced at Kakashi, "There are things missing from Sakura's house."

"What things?" Tsunade picked at the drawer handle that contained her sake bottle, itching for the intruders in her office to leave.

"Her rain cloak, for one. And the team seven photograph and the ribbon I gave her," Ino tucked her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels as Tsunade eyed her like a predator.

Kakashi was scanning the report intently.

"Those missing items weren't found on her body," Kakashi confirmed.

Tsunade groaned.

"And why would she take them on a routine mission to gather herbs!?" Ino corroborated.

"Shut the door," Tsunade ordered and pressed her palms into her eyes.

"Tsunade-sama…?" Ino trailed off.

"Shut the door!" she slammed her fists down on her table and papers went flying in all directions.

Ino yelped and did as she was told.

"Now, sit down. Both of you, and tell me if you hear Shizune coming," she retrieved her sake bottle and took another swig as Ino and Kakashi sat nervously on the opposite side of her desk. They exchanged worried glances.

She peered over the top of the bottle at the two Shinobi, "What I am about to tell you, absolutely- can- _not_- leave- this- room! Understand?"

They both nodded, Ino especially forcefully.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, "… for Sakura's sake."

* * *

A/N: Whoops. The secret is getting out. This is a one shot for a longer series, btw. So it won't make much sense unless you've at least read 'Shinri', so go check it out! And let me know if you like this story and the idea of giving other characters' point of view to support the main story. Should I keep it up? Next, I think Naruto gets back, and we'll probably learn about how that discovery made in the last chapter of 'Soutou' happened.


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